Body coat stays



Jan. 10, 1961 R. w. BILLINGSLEY 2,967,647

BODY COAT STAYS Filed March 10, 1959 INVENTOR r v 1M ATTORNEYS United States Patent O BODY COAT STAYS Robert W. Billingsley, 826 W. Broad St., Richmond, Va.

Filed Mal'. 10, 1959, Ser. N0. 798,414

1 Claim. (Cl. 223-71) This invention relates to improvements in means for holding a new or freshly pressed garment, particularly a coat, when suspended from a hanger, in such manner as to prevent sagging, and to keep the lapped front panels and including the lapels, in proper form. This invention is especially designed for use by cleaners and pressers, in assuring the delivery to the customer of a garment in which the excellence of the pressing job has not become deteriorated through disarrangement incident to trans portation or as the result of careless handling.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a coat stay in the form of a flat elongated thin body member such as would be stamped out from substantially rigid sheet material, for example, cardboard or plastic, the improvement comprising the provision of such coat stay with an end extension from the body member in the plane of the flat dimension of the body member and joined to the body member by a narrow neck, said extension being of such size as to slip freely through a buttonhole of the coat when the stay is presented endwise thereto in a plane parallel to the length of the buttonhole, without the necessity of folding, adjusting, or in any way touching said extension, thus effecting a great saving of time in applying the stay to the garment.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a coat stay as described, in which the end of the body member laterally of the base of said neck forms a shoul` der which, following insertion of the extension through the buttonhole as described and rotation of the stay until its neck is perpendicular to the length of the buttonhole, thrusts against the adjacent material of the panel when the stay is flattened against the inner side of said panel, fixing the stay in the horizontal position which is essential to the performance of its function as a body coat stay. Y

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a coat stay, having at one end of the body member the extension, neck and shoulder, as described, and having a longitudinal slot in said body member for receiving the button corresponding to said buttonhole, the width of said slot being ample to allow free traverse of the thread shank of the button lengthwise of said slot. This feature makes the stay self adjusting responsive to forces which cause variation in the extent of lap of the front lapels, such as the lateral constriction of the garment when placed in a too narrow delivery bag, without deviating from its horizontal attitude.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a body coat stay which can be removed from the coat and repeatedly used, either by the customer or the presser. Heretofore, garment retainers have been used which employed tabs passing through the buttonhole, but such tabs are destroyed when the retainer is removed from the garment. In addition, such retainers are time consuming in application and operate on an entirely different principle from my body coat stay which is self-adjusting and can be repeatedly used, particularly if made of plastic or similar material. My coat stay, because of its at shape throughout, can readily be used for advertising material ICC and information relative to the use of the stay and the care of clothes.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a practical embodiment thereof ppears. V l

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the following specification, and throughout the figures of which the same reference character has been employed to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a body coat stay, embodying the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a coat, parts being omitted, the buttonhole panel being extended toward the observer s'o as to illustrate the manner of inserting' the stay in the buttonhole with the plane of the flat surface of the stay parallel to the length of the buttonhole;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of a coat with a portion of the overlapping front panel'cut away to reveal the free engagement of the button in the slot of the body portion of the stay, the broken line a representing an alternative position of the underlapping panel;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view in vertical section showing the stay rotated about its longitudinal axis through displacement with respect to its position shown in Figure 2, the neck of the extension being perpendicular to the length of the buttonhole and spreading the sides' of the buttonhole.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, and particularly to Figures 1 and 2, it will be noted that the body coat stay 1 is of sheet thickness, being flat, planiform throughout', of appreciable width, and elongated. It may be stamped out or otherwise produced from cardboard, plastic or other suitable material, characterized by substantial stiffness. This is a type description which is conimon to garment form retainers, but such retainers are planiform only when newly manufactured, that is to say, prior to use. They require manipulation to push parts thereof out of the common plane, for the purpose of attachment to the garment, which consumes time, and requires a certain amount of skill, so that the average employee charged with the placing of the retainer resists its use, this being one of the reasons for the indifferent acceptance of such devices by the trade. In addition, such retainers cannot be made out of plastic material, since they require folding or bending and contemplate destruction after a single use. be reused, even if made of cardboard, because of its planiform shape during use, and obviates the need for ex'- pending any time in needless manipulation to fit it to the garment.

The stay 1 comprises a body portion 2, formed at one end` with a projecting tab 3, which is here 'shown as circular, but the shape is immaterial to the invention, with the proviso that the width dimension of the tab must be such as to allow it to slip freely through the buttonhole which it is designed to enter. The tab 3 is joined to the body portion 2 by an integral neck 4, theend of the bo'dy portion from which the neck emanates forming a shoulder 5 laterally of the neck.

The body portion 2 is provided with a longitudinal slot or race, 6. The signicant feature of this slot is its width, which is sufcient to allow free traverse of the thread shank of a button inserted through said slot.

The method of applying the stay to the coat is illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Figure 2 shows the overlapping front panel 7 outfolded so as to lie substantially in the direction of the observer. While in this position, the stay l is presented to the buttonhole 8, with the plane of the at face of the stay parallel to the length of the buttonhole. With the parts in this position, it is obvious that the tab 3 will freely enter the buttonhole to the point at Which the neck will be in the plane of the buttonhole,

The instant invention can further insertion of the stay being stopped by the engagement of the shoulder 5 with the inner face of the panel 7.

The second step is to rotate the stay 1 about its longitudinal axis, so as to turn the neck 4 to its position shown in Figure 4, in which it is perpendicular to the buttonhole and has spread apart the sides 9 and 10 of the buttonhole. When in this position, the opposite sides of the buttonhole press forcibly against the opposite edges of the neck and tend to hold it firmly in this transverse position.

The third step is to push the stay 1 while the plane of its flat face is perpendicular to the buttonhole, as shown in Figure 4, inwardly toward the inner face of the panel 7. It is now in a horizontal position, and the face 11 exposed in Figure 4 is toward the underlying panel which carries the button. While in this position, the bifurcated portions 12 and 13 of the body portion which lie respectively above and below the slot, are pushed in opposite directions to cause the slot to open in a horizontal plane to admit the button 14, which corresponds to the buttonhole 8. Parts 12 and 13 are then released, and through the inherent resilience of the material, they spring back into the common plane of the stay. The panels are then closed in normal lapped relation, the position of the stay being then, as shown in Figure 3, xed in horizontal position through the engagement of the neck with the opposite sides of the buttonhole, and the thrust of the shoulder 5 against the inside of the panel 7 produced by the flattening of the stay against the inside of said panel. The stay, xed in horizontal position, exercises control of the underlapped panel 15 by preventing the button from moving up or down, thus keeping the coat in proper symmetrical position upon the hanger 16, and thus the proper form of the garment as newly pressed, is preserved until the garment is picked up or delivered and taken from the hanger to be worn. The stay is removed by the customer and may be reused in the home, or carried by the wearer of the coat for use whenever the coat is hung upon a rack or the like.

The proper position of the stay is that in which it lies flat between the lapped front sections of the coat, fixed in horizontal position by the nature of its engagement with the buttonhole of one section, and movable relative to the section by virtue of the free movement of the corresponding button within the slot of the stay.

The primary function of the stay is to keep the front sections of the coat at and level regardless of the size of the coat. The industry has adopted a single standardsized hanger and a single standard-sized bag for coats. Obviously neither will lit all sizes of coats. The shoulders of larger coats will extend beyond the ends of the standard hanger and tend to droop more or less according to the amount of padding, etc., incorporated in them. This will tend to move the front sections inward giving them an undulating contour.

The size of the standard bag is too narrow for the larger coats so that the latter are constricted when bagged and the front sections likewise pushed together out of their proper contour. This mis-shaping of the coat fronts is accentuated when the relative movement between the lapped panels is prevented by having the but ton tightly positioned in the slot or slit as shown in known retainers. In order that the front panels of the garment may freely move responsive to this constriction, without losing their pressed planiform shape, the slot 6 is made amply wide to permit the thread shank of the button 14 to freely play within said slot in a longitudinal direction. In the opening 17 cut away in Figure 3, the full line b and the full line representation of the button show the coat in its released form, free from constriction by the sides of the bag. When the coat is pressed laterally by the bag, the sides of which are indicated by the broken lines c and d in Figures 3, the lapped panels 7 and 15 move laterally to a position of more extensive overlap, the button 14 freely shifting to the dotted line position 14. If the button were fixed in the slot so that it could not move to the dotted line position, there would be no alternative but for some part of the front panels to assume an undulating form conducive to wrinkling or disarranged appearance when the garment is worn.

While `the invention has been illustrated in connection with a single-breasted coat, it is equally applicable to a double-breasted garment, in which use both buttons will be introduced through the slot 6, adding another factor for holding the stay ^horizontal, which may be essential due to the increased heaviness of the underlying panel of the double-breasted coat.

While I have in the above description disclosed the practical embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the details of construction as described, are by way of example and not to be construed as necessarily limiting the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

A coat stay adapted to be used with the usual open face coat having buttonholes on one side and buttons oppositely disposed on the other side of the coat opening, said stay comprising, a flat elongated body portion of stili material, a tab projecting from one end of said body portion adapted for insertion through the corresponding buttonhole, said tab being connected to said body portionat said end by a relatively narrow neck, said body portion, tab, and neck being in a common plane and insertable in coplanar relation, said neck adapted to form an axis for the rotation of the stay relative to the insertion of the tab in a buttonhole, and said body portion being provided with a longitudinal slot having spaced apart sides providing a race for the thread shank of a corresponding button, said body portion adapted to slide freely on said button shank by means of said slot when the tab is inserted in a buttonhole and rotated in coplanar relation with the body portion, so that the coat will freely adjust to a hanger or bag when used in connection with the coat.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,004,098 Andrews June 11, 1935 2,135,798 Cons Nov. 8, 1938 2,641,390 Sherbondy Iune 9, 1953 2,642,210 Lang Iune 16, 1953 

